The Longest Year In Karakura Town
by thorny21
Summary: It's New Year's Eve and Ichigo is reflecting on everything that happened in the past year.


**It Had Been A Long Year…**

It had been a long year. So many things had happened to me that I couldn't wait for it to be over. Who am I? My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. What could have possibly happened to make me feel this way you ask? Let me tell you. It started on New Year's Day. Renji, the man I had loved for six years, told me he wanted to start things off fresh. We had a romantic candle light dinner at one of the more posh restaurants and that is where he told me things were over between us. He gave no explanation as to why we were breaking up. And to end the night, he left me with the bill after dessert.

My best friends, Ritsuko and Aika, thought I should get out and meet someone new to help get over the redhead. So on Valentine's Day they set me up on a blind date with the cutest bluenette I had ever seen. He took me out to dinner and then we enjoyed a night of dancing. It had been the most fun I'd had in a long time. After he took me home, he declined my invitation for a drink and kissed me on the cheek. He smiled at me and told me he had had a great time but it wouldn't work between us. Before I could ask why not, he simply informed me I was the wrong gender and walked away.

Being Japanese I couldn't wait to celebrate the Lantern Festival with my friends. We went out to a couple bars and enjoyed the sake and dancing as the Japanese music played endlessly. We continued drinking as the night progressed. Some guy with black hair and green eyes came up to us and started hitting on one of my friends. His girlfriend caught him in mid-flirt and instead of turning on her man, the redhead turned on my friend Aika. She threatened to kick the shit out of her and before Aika could retort, the other woman took a swing at her. Aika ducked and hit her back but that only caused the other woman's friends to join in. Needless to say a bar brawl started and before I knew it, Aika, Ritsuko and I found ourselves in the back of a cop car laughing hysterically.

On Easter I spent the day with my family. The day consisted of my father badgering everyone until they agreed to go to church. It was the only day of the year when anyone in our family actually attends. After sitting through the long-ass sermon and doing the ritual shaking the priest's hands we went back home to fix Easter dinner. Everything was going well until a smoke alarm went off and the kitchen rapidly filled with black smoke. Apparently someone had forgotten to remove the thin plastic that covered the ham before putting it in the oven. Needless to say Kisuke ended up going to the store and buying an already cooked ham for dinner.

Memorial Day this year wasn't so bad. As long as you don't count having your father volunteer you to help the clean up crew in the local cemeteries around the neighborhood in hopes that you'll finally meet a man and settle down. My father wants grandchildren in the worst way and he's not above doing whatever underhanded thing he could to make his dream come true.

The fourth of July wasn't that great this year. I looked forward to spending it with my friends at the fair in town but my boss Aizen called demanding I come in to work immediately. I had asked what the problem was and he simply told me he needed me to do his work so he could go to the fair with his boyfriend Tosen instead. By this time I had gotten fed up with how he had been treating me as an employee and I flat out refused. That led me to be unemployed for several weeks.

Labor Day was a disaster. It was really hot and I decided to go the beach for the day. I had to fight to get a spot that wasn't too crowded. Then after I settled in and started to put sun tan lotion on I was overshadowed by a big man eating a bag of chips. The guy weighed around three-hundred pounds and was almost naked except for the Speedo that should have never had to go through the torture of being put on by someone like him. If scarring my eyes wasn't bad enough he sat in the sand beside me and started hitting on me! The man had short black hair and I'm pretty sure he had a couple poodles attached to his chest and back he was so hairy. Not able to take any more, I packed up my stuff and went home.

Halloween I went to a costume party with my friends that was being held at a local night club. I had dressed up as a sexy Prince Charming for the night. My friends and I always did a theme and this year we were Disney royalty. While everyone else was dancing a handsome man with raven hair and tattoos on his face came up to me asking for a dance. I agreed and we hit the dance floor in earnest. We spent the remainder of the night together and he offered to walk me home. My friends thought I was finally going to get lucky and start a new relationship but as we reached the door I noticed an oddity on his hand. The rest of him was quite tanned except the small area on his left hand where his wedding ring had been previously. Needless to say he went home alone.

Thanksgiving ended badly too. My newly turned vegetarian younger sister Yuzu decided we didn't need a real turkey this year and instead expected us to eat tofurkey. I almost gagged upon seeing the gelatinous mass that was posing as our traditional meal. Thankfully my other younger sister Karin's boyfriend Toshiro had joined us with his one year old pitbull named Hyorinmaru. When no one was paying attention, Hyorinmaru snuck into the kitchen and "killed" the tofurkey. A loud crash alerted us he was in the kitchen and we rushed in to investigate. One look on the dog's face told us he was not amused with the fake turkey that had been left to cool on the counter. Yuzu scolded the dog and stormed out of the room angrily. The rest of us that remained praised him highly. His name may be Hyorinmaru but to us, the young dog had a warm heart of gold. Isshin went back to his house and picked up a turkey and brought it back. Hyorinmaru got a big plate of everything in thanks for ruining the previous meal.

Christmas Day wasn't too bad…at first. Santa had came and filled all our stockings and we were all sitting around opening our presents and laughing. As family tradition, after we opened all our gifts we bundled up against the cold and went into the city to hand out much needed gifts to the homeless. When we finished handing out all we had we headed to a small diner to have breakfast and to warm up with hot cocoa. A familiar voice was heard behind me and when I turned to look I saw my ex-boyfriend Renji sitting there with his own family. Our eyes met briefly and I quickly turned around, hoping he wouldn't come over. No such luck. He wished my family a Merry Christmas and smiled at me asking if we could talk. Not wanting to start a scene in front of my family I agreed and we left to go outside. Renji then informed me he missed me and hoped we could get back together. I couldn't believe my ears! Did he seriously think I was going to take him back just like that? I told him no that I had moved on but he wouldn't listen. He begged and pleaded and at one point came close to tears. I still refused. Thankfully I was saved by a raven haired stranger who came running up to me, pushing past my ex and hugged me. He told me he'd help as long as I played along. I nodded showing that I agreed and he backed away, keeping an arm on my waist. Renji gave us both a dirty look and stormed back inside to join his family.

This leaves me where I am today. At midnight on New Year's Eve with the man of my dreams. He rescued me from my ex on Christmas Day and I invited him to join us for breakfast. I had learned his name was Byakuya Kuchiki and he was the president of a very prestigious company. He was in town checking out possible locations for a new office. He had been heading to the diner as the businessmen he dealt with were currently with their families and he had nowhere else to go. My father got stars in his eyes upon seeing the raven haired grey eyed man and my sister Karin invited him to spend Christmas with us. We started dating that day and now on New Year's Eve I look forward to the bad year to be behind me and the new year to be much happier, spending it with the man I was beginning to fall in love with.

**A/N: I hope you all liked this. Anyway, let me know what you think of it! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Flames will be used to roast my turkey on Thanksgiving!**


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